Posted on 08/01/2005 11:27:52 AM PDT by Rutles4Ever
BISMARCK, ND
Sherman Iron Shield used to sneak his son behind some elevators at St. Alexius Medical Center so he could burn sacred herbs to chase away evil spirits without setting off the hospital's fire alarms and sprinklers.
He believes that the practice, known as smudging, along with modern medicine, helped his son, George, recover from a gunshot wound in his head more than 10 years ago.
"My son is still alive," Iron Shield said.
Now he and other members of the region's large American Indian population can follow their traditions without worrying about the fire alarms.
On Thursday, the Roman Catholic hospital dedicated a $350,000 solarium and meditation room that may be used for such things as burning sage, cedar or sweetgrass and for singing or drumming.
A spokeswoman for the American Hospital Association in Washington said she did not know of any other hospital with such a room. But Amy Lee said that some may have rooms generally set aside for non-Christian patients.
"Hospitals are definitely working toward accommodating growing multiculturalism," Lee said.
The number of American Indian admissions at St. Alexius hospital increased 79 percent from 1998 to 2002, when about 5,760 of the 72,000 patients were Indians, said its marketing director, Nancy Willis. Many were from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, which straddles the line between North Dakota and South Dakota.
The meditation room, 12 feet by 20 feet, is intended for people of non-Christian faiths, or those "for whom the main chapel is not suitable," said Sister Renee Zastoupil, the hospital's director of pastoral programs.
The room also includes a window situated so Muslims can pray toward Mecca.
"Furthermore, it cannot be overlooked that other rituals, insofar as they depend on superstitions or other errors (cf. 1 Cor 10:20-21), constitute an obstacle to salvation."
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Dominus Iesus §21
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